Experts say Missouri ranks low among states when it comes to steps it has taken to improve accessibility in voting. Denise Lieberman, director and general counsel of the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, which has a disability-rights committee, said people with disabilities face barriers at all stages of the voting process, from registering to vote to […]
(Missouri Independent) – On a recent Tuesday evening in southeastern Missouri, John Freeze stood in front of yet another angry group of constituents. Some here believe the number of COVID-19 deaths are being purposefully inflated for financial gain. Among the culprits, in their mistaken view: Hospitals seeking Medicare reimbursements; The federal government, led by Dr. Anthony […]
(Missouri Independent) – This story was originally published by Kaiser Health News. Aneka French applied for Medicaid in October, not long after Missouri became the 38th state to expand eligibility for the program. But her application sat for months in a backlog with tens of thousands of others. While she waited, French, 45, an uninsured medical […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri’s state health department has applied to oversee federal family planning funds, a move reproductive health advocates fear would give the state power to cut off funding for providers who refer patients for abortion services. During his confirmation hearing late last month, former Department of Health and Senior Services Director Donald Kauerauf’s […]
Missouri voters could be asked in November to let the Legislature decide whether to fund Medicaid expansion. The Missouri House has given initial approval to the proposed ballot measure. Last year, the Legislature attempted to defund the expansion population, but the Missouri Supreme Court ruled against that move. House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith says […]
(Missouri Independent) – This story was originally published as a collaboration between Investigate Midwest and Watchdog Writers Group. The American Farm Bureau Federation calls itself the “voice of agriculture,” a slogan it trademarked in 2007. But as the divide between agribusiness and small farmers has grown in recent decades, a unified voice of agriculture has become harder to […]
(Missouri Independent) – As a young girl, state Rep. Raychel Proudie remembers when the beads in her hair would clap together as she walked. Her teachers would call it a “distraction” — the same way they did when her hair was “too high.” “You would come home and tell your mom, or she would get […]
(Missouri Independent) – In a case that grew out of a law making it a crime for a doctor to perform an abortion after eight weeks, the Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday said those seeking to force a referendum on new laws can begin collecting signatures as soon as the bill is passed. The ruling threw […]
The School Superintendents Association says Missouri is the only known state in the nation that has not authorized the distribution of federal coronavirus funds designated for schools. Sasha Pudelski, director of Advocacy for the national organization, says the Missouri Legislature has not yet allowed the state Department of Education to dole out the nearly two-billion […]
(Missouri Independent) – Hundreds of custodians, clerks, and cooks working for state agencies would not get the raises Missouri Gov. Mike Parson promised in December under a spending bill approved Monday by the House Budget Committee. On a party-line vote, with Republicans supporting the bill and Democrats opposed, the committee approved a spending bill that sets […]
(Missouri Independent) – Unsecured creditors will get less than a nickel on the dollar for debts left by a Moberly economic development project that went bust in 2011 as Missouri lawmakers worked on a plan to finance air freight shipments from China. A final report pending before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Dow describes how $2.1 million […]
Some lawmakers in Jefferson City are pushing forward bills that would limit citizens’ ability to put constitutional amendments on the ballot. The proposed legislation would double the number of signatures required to get on the ballot and raise the thresholds to pass them from a majority to two-thirds. Benjamin Singer, CEO of the group Show-Me Integrity, noted […]
(Missouri Independent) – The Missouri Senate refused to confirm Donald Kauerauf as Gov. Mike Parson’s health director on Tuesday, leaving Kauerauf banned from the position for life. Hours later, Parson named Richard Moore, the Department of Health and Senior Services’ general counsel, as acting director of the agency. He slammed senators who blocked Kauerauf’s nomination […]
(Missouri Independent) – State health director Donald Kauerauf adamantly spoke against mandating face masks and COVID-19 vaccines during a hearing Monday, as anti-vaccination demonstrators protested his confirmation in the halls outside. While protesters chanted outside the Capitol hearing room, senators inside grilled Kauerauf for nearly two hours on his views on how best to mitigate […]
Criminal penalties for shooting and killing a police dog would be enhanced under a bill working its way through the Missouri legislature. State Senator Tony Luetkemeyer of Parkville says he began working on the legislation after talking with St. Joseph Officer Lucas Winder, K-9 Max’s handler. Winder asked if penalties could be enhanced […]
The Missouri Legislature is getting to work on Governor Parson’s 47-billion dollar state budget proposal for the next fiscal year. State Senator Lincoln Hough has a problem with an item in the fellow Republican’s wish list that would create a 250-million-dollar reserve of funding. Hough represents the Springfield area in southwest Missouri. Hough, […]
Governor Parson is requesting 250 million dollars to help provide safe drinking water and wastewater. He wants another 150 million to enhance stormwater systems. It’s part of his 47 billion dollar state operating budget for the next fiscal year. The proposal is now in the hands of the Missouri Legislature to decide if […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri is continuing to see record daily coronavirus infections, near-peak COVID-19 caseloads in hospitals, and threats from Attorney General Eric Schmitt that he will sue school districts that require masks or send students home when they are infected or exposed to the virus. In a statement issued Tuesday morning, Schmitt said school mask rules […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt released the following statement addressing school districts that continue to illegally enforce mask mandates and quarantine orders despite the recent Cole County ruling. “School districts have never been given the authority by the legislature to enact public health orders like mask mandates or quarantine orders – the recent […]
More than half of Missouri families report paying more than $500 a month for child care, and child-care providers have been struggling to keep their doors open. Advocates for children say there are some promising actions the Legislature could take to improve both ends. Craig Stevenson, director of policy and advocacy with Kids Win Missouri, noted […]
